Shortly after starting this subject it became very apparent to me that I had not given much thought to the leadership opportunities of the teacher librarian (TL) in schools. I have never held a formal leadership title in the past and in hindsight I think I ascribed leadership to the senior executives such as principals, deputies, and head teachers. As such I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this subject and it didn’t take long for my awakening to the leadership opportunities of TLs to begin. The first revelation, and one that I continued to contemplate, was the notion of leading from the middle and it was quite inspirational to consider how I may be able to drive positive change. In particular, I initially identified with the opportunity of demonstrating leadership through the teaching and support of General Capability skills within the Australian Curriculum (Cox & Korodaj, 2019). Additionally, I came to understand that knowledge and skills relating to the curriculum, information literacy, and the ability to collaborate with all members of the school community allows for resourcing and professional development to be provided by TLs (Cox & Korodaj, 2019). This thinking was reinforced by further reading that linked leadership to the role of a TL (AASL, 2017; ALIA & ASLA, 2016, para 1; ALIA & ASLA, 2016, para 5; ALIA & ASLA, n.d. p.4; IFLA, 2015, p. 28).
My knowledge and understanding of leadership was further developed as I came to learn about different leadership theories. This became important as I began to assess the leadership strengths and weaknesses in my own school setting and prepared myself to practice leadership in my school. I have come to believe that the most appropriate leadership approach that senior executive can demonstrate is transformational leadership (Anderson, 2017, p.1; Crowther et. al, 2009. P. 29), inspiring others, creating a shared vision, and outlining strategic planning and priorities. This was supported by other members of the ETL504 cohort (Mundy, 2022, August 1), however, I was intrigued by comments that referred to how new pedagogical practices can be implemented before staff have a chance to fully understand and embrace the change (White, 2022, August 4). This had led me to consider the importance of instructional leadership, which may come in the form of professional development, that can be delivered by the TL to support the transformational leadership and vision of the school. Additionally, I have come to believe that a TL may be able to demonstrate many different types of leadership. In addition to instructional leadership, TLs can demonstrate servant leadership in their marshalling and deploying of resources to suit the needs of students and staff, and they can support the distributed leadership of others by working collaboratively in teams to drive change within the school (Cox & Korodaj, 2019).
Further readings led me to consider the extent to which a TL may affect cultural change in schools. Merga acknowledges that while there is a wealth of information to support TLs as leaders of change, most of it is anecdotal and personal advocacy, and further formalised research in this area is needed (2022, p.61). TLs can play a role as leaders of cultural change in schools a lack of research calls into question how common this actually is. This supports the idea that successful leadership that supports change in schools needs to be present in all areas of the school and the commitment, participation, and contribution of other leaders and school community members is crucial. This has only strengthened my belief that the TL, through the school library, needs to be involved in and always looking for leadership opportunities that showcase themselves as leaders from the middle that can drive change and support different levels of school reform. Therefore, I resolve to be pro-active in pursuing leadership opportunities and building leadership capacity in my future practice so that I can advocate, innovate, and provide effective services to the school community.
References
American Association of School Librarians (AASL). (2017). School librarians as learning leaders [Infographic]. https://www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/tools/leaders
Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), & Australian School Library Association (ASLA). (2016). Joint statement on teacher librarians in Australia. ASLA Policies. https://asla.org.au/resources/Documents/Website%20Documents/Policies/policy_tls_in_australia.pdf
Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), & Australian School Library Association (ASLA). (n.d.). Standards. ASLA Policies. https://asla.org.au/resources/Documents/Website%20Documents/Policies/TLstandards.pdf
Anderson, M. (2017). Transformational leadership in education: A review of existing literature. International Social Science Review, 93(1), 1–13.
Cox, E., & Korodaj, L. (2019). Leading from the sweet spot: embedding the library and the teacher librarian in your school community. Access, 33(4), 14–25.
Crowther, F., Ferguson, M., & Hann, L. (2009). Developing teacher leaders : How teacher leadership enhances school success. Corwin Press.
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). (2015). IFLA school library guidelines, 2nd revised edition. Resources. https://www.ifla.org/resources/?oPubId=9512
Merga, M.K. (2022). School Libraries Supporting Literacy and Wellbeing, Facet Publishing. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/detail.action?docID=6787102.
Mundy, K. (2022, August 1). Concept Map. [Online forum post]. ETL504 Module 2.3 (Preparation A1). Charles Sturt University https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_62876_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_127077_1&forum_id=_281619_1&message_id=_4173851_1
White, J. (2022, August 4). Secondary sector. [Online forum post]. ETL504 Module 2.1, 2.2 & 2.3 (consolidate theory). Charles Sturt University.
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